Head for yarn package spool



Oct. 8, 1968 PFARRWALLER ET AL 3,404,851

HEAD FOR YARN PACKAGE SPOOL Filed July 15, 1966 Fllg. 1

"in II n. l an.- u E mull-711M!!!) Inventor's ERWIN PFARRWALLER HORST DITTRICH BY M I ATTORNEYS v United States Patent 15,102 1 Claim. (Cl. 242-1185) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An end flange or head for the spools for yarn employed in weaving, comprising coaxial flat and conical annular plates united together coaxially at their periphery, a split but tightenable internally threaded ring, and means to fasten the ring to one of the plates coaxially thereof at points at least 90 distant around the axis of symmetry of the ring from the split in the ring.

The present invention pertains to spools for yarn or thread packages employed in weaving, and provides for such spools an end plate or flange, usually termed a head, which is hollow, light in weight, readily fastenable to or adjustable along the core of the spool, and which when assembled to the core is closed off to the exterior so as not to accumulate dirt or thread fiber in the hollow interior thereof.

Hollow heads have been heretofore proposed for yarn package spools. In such prior art constructions of which we are aware the hollow interior of the head, which is of generally annular shape, is closed off at the radially inner limit thereof, i.e., where it is to fit about the core, by means of a short tube or hub which extends the full axial length of the head. This known spool head of the prior art comprises a substantially trapezoidal body which is closed off axially by means of a separate circular disk. In the manufacture of this head of the prior art the two parts thereof, namely the trapezoidal body and the circular disk, are separately formed, for example by casting. The mold core or cores, for example of sand, which define the hollow space within the trapezoidal body are then removed, for example by jets of water. The circular disk is then fastened to the trapezoidal body as for example by welding.

The invention provides a hollow end plate or head for yarn package spools which can be manufactured in a simple way.

In accordance with the invention the head is open at the radially inner limit thereof and is made of one piece. This makes it possible after casting of the hollow head to dissolve out the mold cores through the open radially inner limit thereof, as by rinsing the cores out if made of sand, or by dissolving them by chemical action if they are made of synthetic material. Moreover, by means of the present invention it is made possible to cast the head in a single piece. The opening at the axis, i.e., at the radially inner limit of the annular casting, not only permits the mold cores to be removed therethrough but also prevents the passage of dirt or fibrous material therethrough into the interior of the head, since the opening is in operation closed off by the core of the yarn spool.

In one embodiment of the invention the central opening through the annular head is smooth, i.e., without threads, and a radially adjustable clamping ring is provided at one axial limit of the head for tightening down onto the core of the spool. This is of advantage since the open construction at the radially inner limit makes it difficult to form sufficiently continuous threads for engagement with 3,404,851 Patented Oct. 8, 1968 a male thread on the yarn spool core. With such an open construction, the axial bore through the head comprises in essence simply the two ring-shaped surfaces at the axial limits of the head. These narrow ring-shaped surfaces have as a rule insufiicient strength, stiffness and thickness to permit an adequate thread to be formed directly therein.

As is well known, two mutually opposing or contradictory requirements are imposed on the end plates or heads for yarn package spools. On the one hand such heads must be light enough so as not unduly to load the warp beam. Consequently they are frequently made of light metals or alloys. On the other hand they must be strong enough so that the axially directed forces or side forces of the threads may be sustained thereby. Moreover, such a head must not be of too heavy a construction; otherwise it will lack elasticity and be unsuitable to be radially drawn down at the central hub thereof. For these reasons it is desirable to make the head up of two separate parts, firstly the actual thread package limiting plate or flange proper and secondly a threaded ring for fastening of the plate or flange proper to the spool core. In one construction according to the invention the hollow space within the head is provided with radially extending stiffening ribs. In this way the head is given strength and stiffness enough even when constructed to large diameters up to for example 800 millimeters.

Advantageously some but not all of these ribs extend down to the central bore. In this way it is possible to provide a large number of such ribs without having-them too close to each other at the radially inner limit of the head, which would interfere with removal of the mold cores upon casting. The spacing of two adjacent ribs as they reach to the central bore remains large enough so that there may be provided between them and radially farther out other ribs which do not reach down to the central bore.

In one construction according to the invention the ring having the female thread therein is fastened to the head by means of axially extending fasteners such as screws which extend into the radially inner ends of reinforcing ribs. Advantageously this threaded ring is split, after the manner of .a piston ring, and is provided with a tangent screw by means of which it can be tightened down onto th core of the yarn spool. The tangent screw is circumferentially displaced, preferably by at least from the positions of the axially extending means for fastening the threaded ring to the body of the head. In this way the threaded ring is permanently affixed to the remainder of the head so that it will not become lost upon removal of the head from the yarn spool core or from the warp beam of the loom, while yet retaining a radially resilient construction for that threaded ring. It is desirable that this radial tightening of the threaded ring be easily effected without changing the axial position of the head on the spool core. It is desirable that upon loosening of the tangent screw it should be possible to move th head easily.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the head is completely closed at the exterior thereof, except at the radially inner limit which fits about the spool core. This insures that the interior of the head will not accumulate fibrous material involved in the weaving operation.

The invention will now be further described in terms of a number of exemplary embodiments and with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view of a warp beam for a loom equipped with the yarn spool heads of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation, partly in axial section, of the left-hand spoolhead of FIG. 1, this axial section of FIG. 2 being taken along the section line IIII of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the plate of FIG. 2, the righthalf of FIG. 3 being a section along the line III-III in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 but representing the right-hand spool head shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows a square shaft 1 supporting the tube 2 of a warp beam. The tube, which is shown broken, may be much longer than indicated, and may have a thread 3 extending from the left end thereof over a distance of for example 450 mm. toward the right end thereof. The tube 2 constitutes the core of a long spool for the storage, e.g., of warp thread. The tube 2 supports an adjustable head generally indicated at 4 to be further described below. At the right end of the tube is provided another end plate or head 6, fastened to the right end of the tube 2 by means of axially extending screws diagrammatically indicated at 5. The end plate 6 is accordingly not adjustable in position with respect to the tube.

As indicated in FIG. 2, the left-hand head 4 is hollow. Ribs 8 to 10 extending axially of the head between a conical web 22 and a fiat disk-shaped web 23 divide the hollow interior of the spool head into a plurality of hollow spaces 7. Ribs 8 and 10 extend radially of the head from the outer periphery thereof to the central bore or hub 11 while intermediate ribs 9 extendfrom the outer limit of the head part way toward the bore 11. The inner ends 12 of the ribs 10 are reinforced and are provided with tapped holes 13 for the accommodation of axially extending fastening screws 14.

The hollow spaces 7 are of generally trapezoidal section in planes containing the axis of symmetry of the head, and these trapezoidal spaces are open toward the bore 11 as indicated at 15. A threaded clamping ring 17 is fastened by means of screws 14 to the axial end of head 4 bounded by the conical web 22. See FIGS. 2 and 3. The ring 17 is split at 18 and is free to flex with respect to the head 4 except as fastened to it at the screws 14. A screw 19 extends tangentially across the split 18 and makes it possible to draw the ends of ring 17 together. By means of the ring 17, the head 4 can be fixed on the tube at any position along the thread 3. The central bore 11 of the head is without threads and possesses as indicated in FIG. 2 a slightly greater diameter than th inside diameter 21 of the ring 17. Consequently, the bore 11 v of the plate or head 4 does not rest on the thread 3.

The tangent screw 19 is circumferentially displaced about the axis of symmetry of the head by some 120 with respect to the axially extending screws 14. Thus, even when the threads 14 are drawn tight the ends of the ring 17 adjacent split 18 possess resilience so that the ring 17 can be drawn into tight engagement with the thread 3.

The spool head or end plate 6 is constructed in the same general fashion as the head 4 so that it includeshollow spaces 7 and openings between the individual ribs 8 and 10 adjacent to a bore 11 thereof. The head 6 however does not include the threaded ring 17 nor the tangent screw 19 thereof. Rather axial screws 5 are disposed in the head 6 uniformly about the axis thereof.

Each of the heads 4 and 6 is cast as a single piece. The mold cores which produce the hollow spaces 7 may be made of sand and ar dissolved out after casting as by means of water jets, the sand and the water passing out through the openings 15. In this way the upper conical web 22 and the lower flat web 23 which enclose the hollow spaces 7 may be formed as a single piece. Whereas the heads 4 and 6 are open at the radially inner limit thereof as indicated at 15, they are elsewhere closed to the exterior.

According to a modified form of construction the ribs 8 and 10 are dispensed with. In particular instances with small diameters and smaller loading, sufficient stiffness can be achieved without ribs. In such a construction however a separate threaded ring for fastening of the plate is particularly desirable because then usually there will be no fastening screws 5 passing through both of the web portions 22 and 23. The screws 14 for the threaded ring will be held in tapped holes formed in the end portion 16.

While the invention has been described hereinabove in terms of a number of presently preferred embodiments, the invention itself is not limited thereto but rather comprehends all modifications on and departures from those embodiments properly falling within the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

We claim:

1. A head for a yarn spool comprising a flat annular web, a conical annular web coaxial therewith and united thereto at the periphery thereof, and a plurality of reinforcing ribs between said webs extending radially thereof to form an integral hollow annular member, said member being bounded at the radially inner limit thereof by said webs along a substantially cylindrical surface and being open toward the axis of symmetry thereof at said inner limit, and being closed off to the exterior except at said radially inner limit, said head further comprising an internally threaded split ring attached to said member coaxially thereof at one axial end thereof, and adjustable means to draw together the ends of said split ring, said ring having an internal diameter substantially equal to the diameter of said cylindrical surface, said head further comprising a plurality of axially extending fastening means engaged between said ring and reinforcing ribs at locations at least distant angularly from the split in said ring.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,141,665 12/1938 Payne 242l18.5 2,645,433 7/1953 Bergstrom 242--1l8.5 3,214,112 10/1965 Sinquefield 242l18.6

GEORGE F. MAUTZ, Primary Examiner. 

